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August 31, 2014

Given the feedback we have received over the last three years of our voluntary work on this blog, it seems as if also digital referee education has the opportunity and power to improve refereeing. Therefore, we have decided to focus on giving UEFA officials a direct and independent feedback after their performances in form of our reports on the one hand, but also to strengthen the Referee Education part in the blog which deserves intensified attention on the other hand.

* Due to Simon Long's elimination from the FIFA list and considering Mark Clattenburg's new team consisting of Simon Beck and Stuart Burt as well as Howard Webb's retirement, it seems as if Mike Mullarkey and Stephen Child have been allocated to Martin Atkinson to form a new trio.

August 17, 2014

UEFA has chosen five World Cup referees to take charge of Tuesday's first legs of Champions League's Play-Off Round. Jonas Eriksson and Milorad Mažić will handle the most sonorous of the five games in Naples and Istanbul.

August 13, 2014

Last week there have been plenty of matches on international turf but the first real top match of the season took only place yesterday evening when Real Madrid beat Sevilla CF under the new English no.1's control. Clattenburg and his team undoubtfully performed quite well. Some other important and interesting news are collected in this post.

August 7, 2014

I have been thinking about how to write the actually mandatory post of reacting to Howard Webb's expected, but nonetheless - for us - painful, retirement he announced yesterday via premierleague.com for quite a long time. Even though it might sound pathetic, it is impossible to live up with what Webb has achieved in his 25-year long refereeing career with the right words.

Instead of reflecting the path of glory the 43-year old MBE went throughout the last couple of years, which would include listing all his achievements and nominations, the most suitable words the entire European and worldwide football community can say are not more than THANK YOU!

Thank you for your exemplary way to manage matches and to interact with players with much coolness, charisma and empathy, improving the game and allowing us to have plenty of pleasurable nights under the stars of the Champions League.
Thank you for, along with Michael Mullarkey and Darren Cann, showing what being a referee team really means.

Thank you for bringing something inspiring into the community of refereeing, being a motivating idol not only for younger referees.

Thank you for your (worldwide visible) mistakes reminding us on the truth that nobody is perfect.

And of course thank you for your bald pate, which definitely provided the matches you handled with the necessary aerodynamics and shine (and which often made me wonder whether you have to be baldy to become the world's best referee considering the Italian baldy, too).

Yesterday has been a rather sad day for refereeing and at such days you recognize how big this referee really was. Fortunately, he stays faithful to refereeing in his function as the new Technical Director in the English refereeing department. And who knows, I should be pretty surprised if this stayed his last step as refereeing officer.Some video impressions on Howard Webb:

August 6, 2014

"As expected, Howard Webb MBE has finished his career as a referee and has been appointed Technical Director of
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

As Technical Director, Webb will be responsible for overseeing the
technical direction and standards that govern the on-field performance
of PGMOL’s match officials. He will manage the PGMOL training programme
and coaching system and will work extensively on the successful
development programme that provides a pathway for referees from Level 3
through to the Select Group.

Additionally Webb will take a public-facing role, informing and
educating on refereeing matters. Webb will report to PGMOL General
Manager Mike Riley and joins his management team.

"I am very excited to start this new chapter in my career after a
wonderfully rewarding 25 years on the pitch," Webb said. "I have spent
over a decade with the best seat in the house for Barclays Premier
League matches, been lucky enough to be involved in nine UEFA and FIFA
tournaments, and taken charge of the UEFA Champions League and FIFA
World Cup finals.

"Refereeing has given me so much and it’s important that match
officials who have had the rewards remain in the game to pass on their
knowledge. I also have much more to learn about the business of
refereeing and the best place for me to do that is with PGMOL. It’s an
incredibly positive working environment and we all have a common goal of
improving refereeing.

"Over the last five years in particular we have made huge strides in
terms of our accuracy, fitness and professionalism. The current Select
Group are the best referees this country has ever produced and I am
thrilled that I not only get the chance to continue working with them
but also the opportunity to help develop the next generation of Select
Group officials.”

Riley is pleased that PGMOL will be retaining the knowledge and
skills of Webb “the foremost referee of his generation and an
inspiration for match officials in this country and around the world”
and these will be shared with other officials.

"While we will no longer see Howard’s commanding presence on the
domestic and international stage, we have an excellent mix of
experienced officials and some very talented younger referees in our
17-strong Select Group," Riley said. "We are very excited that Howard’s
knowledge and skills are being retained and shared for them and the rest
of PGMOL’s officials.

"The role of PGMOL Technical Director will strengthen refereeing in
this country. The game in England does not stand still: clubs are always
innovating and looking to improve, and that’s what we are about at
PGMOL, too. Last season we trebled the funding for referee coaching and
training and we will continue to invest in match officials from the
Premier League down to the contributory leagues.

"We want to accelerate the development of referees from the
semi-professional game so that we have an even stronger talent pool to
pick from at Select Group level. There is no one better to lead on that
than Howard Webb.”

Webb began refereeing in 1989 and progressed through the Northern
Counties and Football League to become a Select Group referee in 2003.
He has refereed more than 500 Barclays Premier League and Football
League matches and officiated in every major domestic final.

A FIFA Elite referee Howard has officiated in eight international
tournaments, including two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European
Championships.

In 2010 Webb became the first referee to take charge of the UEFA
Champions League Final and the FIFA World Cup Final in the same year.

In 2011 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to football."

Upon request, UEFA's media department and further sources have confirmed that there will not be any changes in the UEFA referee categories this summer except the removal of Russian officials Maksim Layushkin and Vladimir Kazmenko, who were suspended by the Russian FA's referee department some months ago.

4 of them have become mentors for UEFA & 1 even made it to Brazil - unfortunately

August 5, 2014

Today we start our new section "Weekly News" which is supposed to cover and strengthen the news section in the blog. We will provide you with the most important headlines of the last week, what you should notice and what you maybe have not noticed so far.

Iconic referee Ahlenfelder has passed away

"The Highlander of Refereeing"

That's how UEFA Vice Refereeing Officer Hugh Dallas is called in Greek newspapers. The former World Cup referee from Scotland has been appointed to coordinate the refereeing department in the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF). If Dallas had not agreed to take the post, sources confirm that José García-Aranda would have been the second on the recruitment list.

Equipped with a £250,000-per-year-salary, Dallas cannot wait until his new duty begins: "I love this profession and money comes second to me. I know about
some of the issues in Greece and my biggest worry in football is players
who cheat by diving. They are getting increasingly sophisticated at doing this and some
clubs even practice it in training. It's extremely difficult to
control. I've refereed Greek teams 12 times in my career and, although I
don't remember all the results, I remember the weather in all of them. I
know this job will be a lot of work, but I am looking forward to it
immensely."

For sure, Dallas' nomination also boosts the chances of Greek Tasos Sidiropoulos, who is currently monitored by UEFA as part of their Talent Program in the First Group of referees with Peter Fröjdfeldt as his mentor, to move up to Elite Group in future. Some days earlier, it became public that Kyros Vassaras has become the new head of Romania's referee department.

"Vanishing spray implemented in Premier League"

Last week the FA has decided to implement the vanishing spray in the Premier League, whose boss R. Scudamore affirmed that "they were open for developments that improve the game". In Germany, DFL and DFB are currently thinking about establishing it as well, even though the majority of referees have resisted it last season. The impressions Felix Brych collected during the World Cup will be integrated into the decision whether to or not to implement it.

"British Super Cup Officials"

The all-Spanish UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Sevilla CF, kicked off next Tuesday evening in Cardiff, Wales, will be under completely British supervision. The match will be refereed by English Mark Clattenburg, assisted by Simon Beck and Stuart Burt on the sidelines, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor on the goallines and Darren England at the benches. They will be observed by Scottish Donald McVicar, whose countryman Campbell Ogilvie will delegate the match. Raymond Ellingham and Rodger Gifford will welcome the officials as the UEFA liaison officers.

"Legendary Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder has died"

The German football community is mourning the death of Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder, who has passed away at the age of 70. In 1975, he became quite famous when he drunkenly handled a Bundesliga match between Bremen and Hannover, finished the first half after 32 minutes, re-started play after the advice of the linesman and ultimately finished the first half 90 seconds too early in the 44th minute. His dialogue with Bayern legend Paul Breitner also went into German football history books: "Breitner: Ahlenfelder, you whistle like an ass! - Ahlenfelder: Breitner, you also play like an ass!"